Graduate unemployment is at an all-time high, with government statistics showing that 8.6% of graduates are still unemployed six months after finishing their studies. More than a third of the 250,000 graduates entering the job market each year are forced to take low skilled jobs.

But graduates are a valuable resource for growing small and medium sized businesses, with many saying they would prefer to hire people with a university education – and why wouldn’t they. University students are on the whole, intelligent, ambitious and forward thinkers, essential requirements for any growing business.

So recent graduates Nick Guy and David Rubie-Todd have launched Witlr (witlr.com), a new website which will make it simpler, faster and cheaper for employers to find the graduates they need.

Witlr will enable employers to search through a database of thousands of graduates according to their chosen criteria, such as degree subject, place of study, interests and work experience. Employers will be able to search the database for free, only paying a fee when they wish to receive further details of graduates they would like to contact. A shortlist of five candidates, for example, will cost under &pound250, equivalent to &pound49 per candidate.

Nick Guy, co-founder and managing director of Witlr, said: “Small and medium sized companies would really like to hire graduates but they don’t know how to find them, job boards are old fashioned and ineffective and consultants are just a plain rip off. We wanted to make it easier for them to identify the graduates they need. Graduates are ideal employees because they are ambitious, open to new ideas and willing to relocate.”

Graduates will be able to upload their details onto the Witlr site for free and will only have to create a single profile instead of having to make multiple applications for jobs.

Witlr, which is derived from the word whittle, will enable employers to search for graduates to hire for fixed term contracts and placements as well as full time positions.